Browsing: b

Albert Oliver Badman, progressive wheat farmer and Country Party politician, was born ‘alongside a wheatfield’ near Yacka in the mid-north of South Australia, on 18 December 1885. Oliver, as he was known, was the son of Robert and Agnes Mary, née Duffield. According to family history, Albert Oliver’s grandfather was George Badman, who had migrated from Somerset, England, with his wife and young family

Sir Richard Chaffey Baker, barrister, pastoralist and foundation President of the Australian Senate, considered the Senate ‘the pivot on which the whole Federal Constitution revolves’. Baker, the eldest son of twelve children, was born at Adelaide on 22 June 1841 to John Baker, and his wife Isabella, née Allan. John Baker was a pioneer settler who arrived in South Australia in 1839 becoming a

Thomas Jerome Kingston Bakhap, tin miner, was born in the Benevolent Asylum, Ballarat, Victoria, on 29 October 1866, the son of Margaret Geneva Hogan, an eighteen-year-old Irish girl residing in Smythesdale. The identity of the father does not appear on Bakhap’s birth certificate, registered in the name Kingston. Subsequent claims by his mother (whose own birthplace is cited variously as Callao, Peru, and Limerick,

‘It was’, wrote the Bulletin at the time of Stephen Barker’s death, ‘the dream of his life to get into the Senate’. Barker, tailor and trade unionist, was born in 1846, in London, England, son of Stephen Barker, farmer, and his wife Hannah, née Nagle. It is likely the whole family migrated to Australia. From the age of twelve, Barker worked in Melbourne as

‘The story of John Barnes’, said Albert Monk, ACTU president in 1938, ‘is also the history of the Australian Labor movement’. Barnes was born on 17 July 1868 at Hamilton, near Kapunda, South Australia, son of John Thomas Barnes, a labourer from Somerset, England, and his wife Mary, née Cummeford, from County Clare, Ireland. He acquired the basic elements of a primary education and

John George Barrett was born on 17 December 1858 at Carlton, Melbourne, the child of George Barrett, a carpenter, and Eliza Jane, née Elliot, both born in London. His father was active in party politics in Victoria. Barrett was educated at St Mary’s Church of England school at Hotham. On leaving school at the age of twelve he became an apprentice tinsmith, continuing to

Henry Newman Barwell, lawyer and premier, was born in Adelaide on 26 February 1877, the son of an Adelaide merchant, Henry Charles Barwell, and his wife Clara, née Brooke. The young Henry was educated at Whinham College and St Peter’s College, going on to Adelaide University, where he graduated in law. Barwell was articled to the firm of Wilson and Toler-Rowley and called to

Throughout his long career in both Houses of federal Parliament, Michael Baume was seldom far from controversy. Quick-witted and hard-working, with a flair for publicity, Baume was a relentless, effective and often ruthless opponent inside and outside the chambers. He was a close friend and ally of John Howard, for many years acting as his ‘numbers man’ in the Senate. Although he was amply

Peter Baume, who served for seventeen years in the Senate, was a small ‘l’ Liberal in the Deakinite tradition, representing the ameliorative and interventionist strand of the Liberal Party. Baume was sometimes at odds with his party’s public position and was prepared to cross the floor on issues of principle. He enjoyed distinguished careers in three separate areas of endeavour (medicine, politics and academia).

Michael Beahan, electrician, teacher, and state secretary of the ALP in Western Australia (1981–87), rose to be the nineteenth President of the Senate, holding that post from 1 February 1994 to 20 August 1996, before his formidable parliamentary career was cut short by pre-selection party politics. Michael Eamon Beahan was born on 21 January 1937 in London, England, the son of Irish autoelectrician Francis

Frederick Hubert Beerworth, farm worker, railwayman and union leader, was born on 17 May 1886 at Quorn near Carrieton, South Australia. He was one of the eleven children of William Carl Beerworth, a German-born farmer, and Mary, née McInerney. He was educated locally, probably at schools in Pametta and Carrieton. Following farm work in the Carrieton area, Fred, as he was known, became an

Most knowledge of Robert John Bell’s early life derives from his highly personal first speech to the Senate in May 1990. He was born in Hobart, Tasmania, on 22 July 1950. His parents were based at Bronte Park, his father employed on hydro-electricity works. Soon the couple separated, Robert remaining with his mother, Frances Ellen. While she qualified as a schoolteacher, the boy lived

Archie Benn was not quite a maverick senator but he was a man of independent mind who survived three full terms in the Senate very much on his own terms, pursuing subjects that had occupied him through his earlier career as an industrial officer in the Queensland Public Service, and developing his interests in international relations. Though closely involved in the turbulent split of

Benjamin Benny, solicitor, was born on 21 October 1869 at Aldinga, South Australia. Benjamin was the eldest son of the seven children of George Benny, Free Presbyterian minister and schoolteacher, and his wife Susanna, née Anderson. Benjamin first attended Morphett Vale Public School. When his father died penniless in 1879, Benjamin’s uncle, William Steele Benny, paid for his education at Thomas Caterer’s Commercial College,

Eric James Bessell was a loyal party member and conscientious parliamentarian, whose political career ended when his view of the proper role of the Senate came into conflict with his party’s short-term political aims. He was born in Launceston to Harold Aubrey Bessell, a miner, and Robina Allen, née Dallas, on 6 June 1923. When he was five years old, the family moved from

Robert Wallace Best, described as ‘one of those excitable, exclamatory, vehement, enthusiastic men who continually give off heat like radium’, was born at Collingwood, Victoria, on 18 June 1856. His father, also Robert Best, was a farmer who became a customs officer; his mother was Jane, née Wallace. Both parents were Irish-born. The younger Robert Best was educated at the Templeton School in Fitzroy,

Reginald (Reg) Bishop was born in Adelaide on 4 February 1913, ninth of ten surviving children of Enoch John Bishop, bootmaker, and Minnie, née Martlow. Reg was very proud of his status as a ‘west ender’, a term associated with the working-class area of central Adelaide where he grew up. He left school in 1927, having obtained what was then termed the qualifying certificate.

Florence Bjelke-Petersen was born Florence Isabel Gilmour, in Brisbane on 11 August 1920, eldest of two daughters of James Pollock Gilmour, an accountant and company secretary, and his wife Florence Mabel, née Low. Growing up in the Brisbane riverside suburb of New Farm, her childhood was a secure and happy one, embedded in a contented family life. Florence began her schooling at the New

John Rees Black was born in Sydney on 26 January 1952. He was the third of five children of Roger Foster Black, a botanist, born in Adelaide, and his Sydney-born wife Ivy Ada, née Tanner, whose father was said to have been an ‘ardent’ campaigner for Jack Lang. Ivy later wielded considerable back-room influence in the South Australian ALP and she was described as

On the first of January 1901 at Centennial Park in Sydney, the first official business at the inauguration of the Commonwealth of Australia was the Proclamation of the Commonwealth and Letters-Patent of the Governor-General. They were read to the gathering by the man said to have ‘the most sonorous voice in official Australia’, Edwin Gordon Blackmore, Clerk of the Legislative Council of South Australia

Albert Edward Howarth Blakey was born on 9 November 1879, at Balmoral, in the western district of Victoria, the son of William Henry, a fellmonger and later a wool-classer, and Louise, née Woodford. William appears to have emigrated to Australia from Huddersfield, Yorkshire, England, marrying Louise at Balmoral in 1878. The young Blakey read widely and later lent his support to government increases to

William Kinsey Bolton, soldier and foundation president of the Returned Sailors and Soldiers Imperial League of Australia, was born in Lostock Gralam, Cheshire, England, on 1 November 1860. The son of John Hammersley Bolton, corn dealer, and Hannah, née Kinsey, Bolton arrived in Australia with his parents in 1868. The family settled in the western district of Victoria, where his father became a storekeeper.

Neville Thomas Bonner, born ‘under a lone palm tree’ on 28 March 1922, at Ukerebagh Island, Tweed Heads, New South Wales, was a stockman and Aboriginal activist who believed it was in the best interest of his people to work for the Aboriginal cause within the existing political institutions of Australian white society. He was the first Indigenous Australian to sit in federal Parliament.

In 1973 when the Commonwealth Parliament amended the Electoral Act 1918 to lower the minimum voting age to eighteen, Vicki Bourne was a nineteen-year-old student. Inspired by the opportunity to vote, she looked at the environmental policies of each of the major political parties, rejecting the major parties in favour of the Australia Party. In 1977, when the Australia Party was merging with the

Although there is no evidence that Charles Broughton Boydell had strong religious convictions, or indeed that he was very religious at all, he had excellent family connections with the Church of England. His mother was Mary Phoebe Broughton, elder daughter of the Rt Rev. William Grant Broughton, DD, one-time East India Company official, and chaplain of the Tower of London. Charles’ father, William Barker Boydell,

Like his predecessor Roy Bullock, Keith Bradshaw had a long and distinguished career in the Department of the Senate, assumed the office of Clerk at a relatively advanced age, and retired after approximately two years in office. Keith Oscar Bradshaw was born on 28 April 1923 in Broken Hill, New South Wales. He was the second child of Oscar Spelman Bradshaw, a railway car

Charles Hayman (Henry) Brand, schoolteacher and army officer, was born on 4 September 1873 at Mount Radford Reserve, Ipswich, Queensland, son of Charles Hayman Brand, farmer, of Devon, England, and his wife Elizabeth, née Elliott, of Londonderry, Ireland. Educated at state schools in Maryborough and Bundaberg, young Charles joined the Department of Public Instruction on 8 November 1887 as a pupil-teacher. He taught initially

George Howard Branson, sales manager and farmer, was born in Perth on 23 February 1918, the third of five surviving children of South Australian-born Howard Henry Branson and Ethel May, née Carrett, from Victoria. At the turn of the century Howard had been a goldminer in Geraldton and went on to acquire interests from mining magnate Claude de Bernales. Faced with lung problems, Branson

Although claiming to be a somewhat reluctant senator, Marie Freda Breen created her own opportunities for political advancement and was committed to the increased representation of women in all facets of public life. Marie was born on 3 November 1902 at St Kilda, Victoria, second child of Frederick William Chamberlin, town clerk of St Kilda, who was born in London, and his Australian-born wife,

Thomas Cornelius Brennan, the seventh of the eleven children of Michael Brennan and Mary, née Maher, was born in Sedgwick, Victoria, probably in 1867. His father, who was of Irish descent, was a farmer at Maryvale, Upper Emu Creek, near Bendigo; he was three times president, and then secretary, of Strathfieldsaye Shire. Thomas and his younger brother Frank would both enter the law and

Born in the Melbourne suburb of Balwyn on 1 December 1877, Robert Arthur Broinowski was the sixth of eight children of a Polish immigrant, Gracjusz (Gracius) Broinowski, and his wife, Jane, née Smith. Jane was the daughter of the captain of an English whaler, while Gracius, who at some time used the pseudonym Gracius Browne, was a salesman for the publisher, Hamel and Ferguson,

Gordon Brown was a radical left-wing activist, who mellowed to become a colourful, audacious and popular Labor senator. He was born on 11 February 1885 in Chesterfield, Derbyshire, son of William Brown and his wife Jane, née Woodcock. His father, a Methodist lay preacher, managed a bootshop. Gordon grew up in a large and devout household, which inspired ‘a Christian motivation’ that he would

Senator Bill Brown, cabinetmaker and trade union official, was a gracious and popular figure in the Senate, albeit an outspoken and passionate one. He was born William Walter Charles Brown in the Melbourne suburb of Brunswick, on 4 December 1920, the second child of William Samuel Brown, a French-polisher, and Eileen, née Ryder. After attending Catholic schools in inner-city Melbourne and studying at night

David Gordon Cadell Brownhill was born at the family property, Beaudesert station, near Mudgee, NSW, on 16 November 1935. He was the youngest of four children and the only son of Gordon McMillan Brownhill, grazier, and his wife Mary Wyatt, née Cadell. His early education was completed by correspondence. He then attended Cullenbone Public School and, from 1947 to 1953, Sydney Church of England

Thomas Louis Bull, grazier, was born at Wagga Wagga on 7 September 1905, the fourth of five sons of Henry James Bull, grazier, and his wife Charlotte Roberta, née Tresilian. Educated in a one-teacher school at Gobbagaula, near Narrandera, and at Wesley College, Melbourne, he became a partner in his family’s pastoral properties in the Narrandera district. In 1948 he bought Yarramundi, a 5000-acre

After a long career in the service of the Senate, Roy Bullock came to the office of Clerk only a few years short of the then compulsory retiring age of sixty-five. As it transpired, he was compelled to retire even earlier due to ill health. Roy Edward Bullock was born on 12 December 1916 in Wagga Wagga, New South Wales, the son of Edward,

Cleaver Ernest Bunton’s service of less than nine months in the Senate was both a creation and a casualty of the Australian political crisis of 1975. Aged seventy-two when he entered the Senate, he told reporters, ‘I look 55 years old, feel 45 and am fit and well’. Youthful vigour, precocious achievement and an ability to rise above sectarian and partisan interests were by

Bryant Robert Burns was born in Rockhampton, Queensland on 24 March 1929. He was the youngest of three children of Charles Robert Burns, a railway engine driver, and his wife Alice Charlotte, née Wassman. Burns attended Leichhardt Ward Boys’ School until the age of thirteen, when he abandoned his studies to go droving. For three years he worked as a stockman and horsebreaker in

Nancy Eileen Buttfield, the first South Australian woman to enter state or federal parliament, and a community worker and public figure in Adelaide, was born on 12 November 1912 in Kensington Gardens, Adelaide, to Edward Wheewall (later Sir Edward) Holden and Hilda May, née Lavis. Nancy’s great-grandfather, James Alexander Holden, arrived in Adelaide from the north of England in 1856, establishing a leather business

Variously described as ‘the best prime minister we never had’, ‘a small man of quick wit, crafty calculation and intellectual provocation’, as having ‘an unenviable reputation as a minister with an undisciplined tongue, a politician prone to gaffes’, ‘the first person since Shirley Temple to build a whole career out of whimsy’ and ‘a rare phenomenon in Australian politics: a genuine intellectual, a wit,

Richard Buzacott was born at Emu Flat, near Clare, South Australia, on 7 September 1867, son of Richard Buzacott, a farmer of Emu Farm, Armagh (near Clare, South Australia) and his wife Margaret, née McKinnon. An elder brother, Nicholas, was a member of the New South Wales Legislative Council (1899–1933). Richard was educated at Stanley Flat Primary School. In 1891, he went to work

Condon Bryan Byrne, lawyer, public servant and politician, was born at Yea, a pastoral town in central Victoria, on 25 May 1910. He was the son of Edward James Byrne, a soldier, born at Enniskillen, Ireland, and Mary Honorine, née Condon, born in Tasmania. Condon was educated at a primary school run by the Christian Brothers in West Melbourne, then at Marist Brothers’ College,